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On November 26, 2024, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received an allegation that on Monday, November 25, 2024, Child A (21-months-old) was bitten by another child at Kids & Company and Parent A (parent of Child A) was not informed until pickup and was not told about the severity of the bite by staff Trista Collier. Child A had also been bitten the previous week, but Parent A was not informed about that at all verbally or in writing. After conducting an investigation, Compliance Inspector (CI) Patrick O'Malley has found this allegation to be substantiated based on the following evidence:
5 CSR 25-500.192(5)(A), which states that: "In case of accident or injury to a child, the provider shall notify the parent(s) immediately. If the child requires emergency medical care, the provider shall follow the parent's(s') written instructions."
On December 2, 2024, CI O'Malley conducted an unannounced inspection of the facility. CI O'Malley observed two incident reports for Child A documenting Child A being bitten on November 5 and 25, 2024. Both reports show that the affected area was washed with soap and water and an ice pack was applied. Both reports show a signature for Parent A.
CI O'Malley conducted an interview with director Chelsea Peters. Ms. Peters stated that Child A was bitten by another toddler at approximately 3:15 p.m. on November 25, 2024. Child A was also bitten on November 5, 2024, at approximately 11:30 a.m. Ms. Peters affirmed that Parent A (parent of Child A) was not contacted immediately after either bite, as neither bite broke the skin. Parent A signed an incident report on both dates, at the end of each day.
CI O'Malley conducted a phone interview with Parent A, who stated that Child A was bitten twice in the month of November 2024. The second bite occurred on November 25, 2024; Parent A was informed of the bite at pick-up, when she signed an incident report. Parent A also signed an incident report for a bite that had occurred several weeks earlier, of which she had not been aware. Parent A examined the bite when she got Child A home; the bite was more severe than the incident report indicated. The bite mark was surrounded by bruising and appeared to have bled. Child A was still enrolled at the facility.
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